Alexander the Great is one of the greatest conquerors of all time. Hey, the guy conquered 2,000,000 square miles of land in only 11 years!1 BTW, that’s larger than India! He basically conquered the whole ancient world known to him. Plus, he started conquering at the age of 20.2 I mean, who is thinking about conquering the whole world at the age of 20? I know I’m not. I mean, look at the size of his empire when he died!
Source:commons.wikimedia.org
Alexander was with his army almost every battle. According to the Mini Q- How great was Alexander the Great?,”More than once, Alexander was at the front of an attack.” Most rulers I’ve learned about were the type of guys who sat back and watched the army fight whoever they wanted to conquer, or they were a commander and didn’t really fight.
One time, the army was crossing a desert, and Alexander, like everyone else was tormented by thirst, but he continued to march on foot ahead of his men. Then a party of light infantry who went off looking for water found some, and hurried it back to Alexander, and put it in a helmet for him to drink. He thanked them, then in full view of his troops poured the water on the ground, showing that he wanted to be fair and equal to everyone in the army, and wouldn’t drink without his men.3
Source:hellenic-art.com
Because of Alexander Greek ideas spread to Egypt, the Near East and beyond. Alexander established many Greek-style cities all over his empire. Settlers from Greece flocked to Alexander’s cities. At one point one of these cities, Alexandria in Egypt became one of the ancient world’s most important centers of trade and learning.4
And so I would like to conclude with a letter.
Dear Alexander,
You were:
- “the Great”
- A brave conqueror
- Cool
- Fair
- A good leader
- A risk-taker
- Awesome
Thank you Alexander, for everything you’ve done to spread Greek culture. Thank you, Alexander for being fair to your soldiers and people. Thank you, Alexander for being ambitious and inspiring. I wish I could meet you. You are definitely Alexander the Great(est).
1Mini Q- How great was Alexander the Great?
2Mini Q- How Great was Alexander the Great?
3Mini Q- How Great was Alexander the Great?
4History Alive! The Ancient world
